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Originally airing Thursday, May 30, 2019

WRFA’s Jason Sample talks with Jamestown City Council – Ward 2 Candidates Tony Dolce and Raven Mason Thompson. Dolce is the long-time incumbent for Ward 2 and Mason Thompson is running for office for the first time. Both candidates are seeking the Republican Party’s endorsement for the November General election and will square off in a primary on Tuesday, June 25, 2019.

The two talk about why they are running for office and also talk about some of the issues facing the city of Jamestown, including housing, public safety, and economic development.

JAMESTOWN – The deadline has arrived and election petitions have been submitted to the Chautauqua County Board of Elections with a total of 17 individuals running for Jamestown City Council in addition to the three who’ve announced their intention to run for mayor.

LIUZZO, SUNDQUIST, WILFONG RUNNING FOR MAYOR

According to information posted at the Chautauqua County Board of Elections website, Republican candidates Andrew Liuzzo and David Wilfong both submitted enough signatures to qualify as a candidate for mayor. As a result, a Republican Primary will take place on June 25.

Liuzzo is currently in his second year on the City Council while Wilfong is in his sixth year on the Chautauqua County Legislature.

Besides getting enough signatures for the Republican Party, Wilfong is also the only candidate to receive endorsement of the conservative party, meaning that even if he were to lose the June Primary election, he could still run as a third-party candidate in November.

Meanwhile local attorney Eddie Sundquist is the only candidate to submit petitions for the Democratic party, along with both the Independence and the Working Families parties.

With current Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi saying in February he would not seek a sixth consecutive term, the 2019 race for mayor will mark the first time the seat has been open in seven decades.

17 CANDIDATES SUBMIT PETITIONS FOR CITY COUNCIL SEATS

Over on the City Council, there will be six different candidates vying for the three at-large seats. In addition, four of the six ward seats will also be contested – including one that will see a Republican Party primary take place. 

In the city’s Second Ward, long-time incumbent and Republican Tony Dolce is being challenged by newcomer Raven Thompson (AKA Raven Mason) for the Republican nomination. As a result the two will square off in the June 25 primary. The winner of that primary will advance to take on Democratic Challenger Thomas Vitale. However, because Dolce has also been endorsed by the Conservative and Independence parties, he would still have a spot on the ballot even if he were to lose the Republican primary.

Meanwhile, the council’s At Large candidates include incumbents Kimberly Ecklund and Tamu Graham-Reinhardt. Ekclund is endorsed by the Republican, Conservative and Independence parties while Graham-Reinhardt received backing from the Democratic, Independence, and Working Families parties. The other four at-large candidates are former councilman and council president Gregory Rabb (Democratic, Independence, and Working Families), Taylor Scott (Democrat and Working Families), Gregory Lindquist (Republican and Conservative) and Jeffrey Russell (Republican Conservative).

In the Ward 1 Race, incumbent Republican Brent Sheldon has also received the endorsement of Conservative and Independence parties. He’ll face challenger Timothy Smeal, who is running for both the Democratic and Working Families parties.

In Ward 4, Democratic incumbent and current council president Marie Carrubba also received the backing of the Independence and Working Families parties. She’ll face newcomer Brittnay Spry, who is running for the Republicans and Conservative parties.

And in Ward 5, Incumbent and Democrat Maria Jones will face Republican challenger Grant Olson.

The only two seats that are not contested are in Wards 3 and Wards 6, where Democratic incumbents Vickye James and Thomas Nelson are respectively running unopposed for reelection.

The number of candidates for the city council is the most

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JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council has approved a resolution to move forward with selling the Board of Public Utilities (BPU) Wastewater Treatment Plant to the Jamestown Local Development Corporation (JLDC).

The Jamestown City Council during the Dec. 18, 2017 voting session.

During Monday Night’s City Council voting session, nine different people spoke to the council and asked members to vote against or table the waste water treatment resolution.

Despite the concerns, the council eventually voted unanimously to approve the resolution. However, prior to the vote city councilman and finance committee chair Tony Dolce assured those in attendance that the vote was not to sell the plant, but only to keep the process moving forward.

“There have been some excellent questions/concerns brought forward by many of the members tonight,” Dolce said. “I just want to assure the public and the people that are here that this marks the beginning, or the initiation, of the possible process…. This has to go through JLDC, it has to go through the BPU board, it has to come back through a series of resolutions to the city. Many of the questions that came up tonight are questions that will have the be answered before an actual sale can take place.”

Some in attendance said that matter appeared to be an 11^th hour effort by the city to address its financial challenges, which Dolce said is simply not the case.

“tonight’s vote is not an eleventh hour thing. It has to take weeks and possibly months to vet this out, look at the possibility, and if there are legal objections, or either of the boards or this council feel that that this is not an appropriate way to go, there will be plenty of time to put a halt on it, to stop it, and go in a different direction,” Dolce said.

Earlier this Month Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi announced the city was looking into selling the plant to the JLDC as a way to inject a large amount of capital into the city coffers so it could be used to pay for infrastructure and equipment needs that will run into the millions of dollars, while also putting some of the money into a tax stabilization fund.  The plant is valued at $18 to $20 million. The BPU would then pay the JLDC to use the plant, with the money coming from wastewater fees collected by the BPU and used to pay off the bonds the JLDC would have to take out to make the purchase. The plant itself would be used as collateral.

• VIEW CAPITAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND EQUIPMENT PROGRAM (PRESENTED DEC. 4)

Teresi said that because the city has reached its constitutional tax limit, it can’t borrow money through traditional bonding methods. He said that the proposal gives the city an alternative method of raising a large sum of money and instead of using taxes to pay it back the city would use rate payments from wastewater customers, located both inside and outside of the city.

• LISTEN TO WRFA’S INTERVIEW WITH MAYOR REGARDING WASTEWATER PLANT PROPOSAL

PUBLIC CRITICAL OF PLAN, REQUESTS MORE DETAILS

Some of those who voiced concerns about the proposed sale of the Wastewater Treatment Plant during Monday’s city council meeting included (clockwise from upper left): Todd Tranum, Greg Lindquist, Dan Heitzenrater, and Edward Premo.

Members of the public, including the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier (MAST), question the plan and feel that it will hurt business and economic development while also risking the stability of the BPU and JLDC.

Attorney Edward Premo – from the Rochester area law firm Harter Secrest & Emery – is representing MAST on the matter and spoke to the council about the issues the organization has with the proposed sale.

“Members of MAST are very concerned about what the city council is considering doing. They are very concerned about this being a step in the dismantling of the BPU,” Premo said. “We believe that the sale of the wastewater treatment plant and facilities not only violates the laws in the city of Jamestown, but also violates the laws concerning the JLDC.”

Premo then raised five legal concerns MAST has with the proposal. They are:

1. The Wastewater System cannot be sold without a majority vote of all residents, per the city charter;
2. The Wastewater System cannot be sold while it is still in use;
3. The BPU cannot pass through JLDC debt service to system users;
4. Users will be charged double for the same system;
5. As a lending agency, the JLDC doesn’t have the power to acquire nor bond for the Wastewater System.

• READ FULL LETTER TO CITY OUTLINING MAST CONCERNS/ISSUES

Also addressing the council and raising concerns were Todd Tranum, president of MAST and the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce, former BPU chair John Zabrodsky, former BPU member and Weber Knapp financial officer Wayne Rishell, who said that so far there has been no transparency regarding what impact the sale would have on waste water rates, as well as specific details on how the money from the sale would be spent.

Others who voiced concerns included labor representative David Wilkinson, town of Ellicott councilman-elect Dan Heitzenrater, and residents Doug Champ, Greg Linquist,  Raven Thompson.

The matter will continue to be discussed, perhaps as early as Tuesday afternoon when the JLDC board meets at 4:30 p.m.